Service-pipe box



E. H. HUMMER & J. s. GBMMILL-- Service-Pipe Box.

No. 225,385y Patented Mar. 9,1880.

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WM ATTORNEY WITNIS y/W NFTERS. PHOTO-UYMOGRAPHER. WASHINGTON. D C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ELI H. HUMMER AND JOSEPH S. GEMMILL, OF YORK, PENNSYLVANIA.

SERVICE-PIPE BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 225,385, dated March 9, 1880.

' Application filed July 26, 1879.

To all 'whom itmay concern:

Beit known that we, ELI H. HUMWER and JOSEPH S. GEMMILL, ot York, in the county of York and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and valuable Improvement in Service Pipe Boxes; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon.

Figure 1 of the drawings is arepresentation of a vertical central section of our improved apparatus, and Fig. 2 is a top view of the surface-box with the cover removed.

This invention has relation to improvementsin devices for cutting off or letting on gas or water to a house; and the nature of the invention consists in certain novel construction and arrangement of the devices used, as will be hereinafter more fully described.

In the accompanying drawings, the letter A designates the supply pipe leading from Athe main into the place to be supplied, and

being at a greater or less depthin the ground, according to circumstances. This pipe extends through a box, B, that, for convenience of being placed around the pipe, is made of separable parts.

C indicates a spigot, not differing essentially from those in common use, and operating to let on and cut oft' the supply of gas or water, which spigot works in connection with the feed or supply pipe, and is provided at its upper end with a wrench-seat, a, upon which is received a wrench-cap, b, having an upwardlyprojecting stem, c, in the top of which is made a socket, d, for the reception of the prismat-ic lower end of the operating-rod D. Extend- .ing up from box B, encircling or inclosing the rod D, is a metallic tube, T, the upper end of which opens into a second box, G, slinken into the ground flush with the surface thereof, or, if a pavement is laid down, with its surface. This tube T is usually screwed into the box B, and extends through the bottom of surface-box Gr, to which it may also be secured by a screw-joint. `Rod D extends up into box Gr, and terminates in a wrench-seat, e, by means of which a wrench may be used to turn said rod and open or close the valve or cock. Upon this rod is secured, in line with the water-way of the cock, a nger, j', which indicates the position of the said way and whether the water or gas is turned on or off. The box Gr is cylindrical in form, and has upon itsinside,l near its margin, the oppositely-inclined cams f', and the lid Jl, that closes this box, is provided with lugs t', that engage the said cams, and when turned in the proper direction cause the lid to be tightly fastened to the box. This is accomplished very readily by means of the sunken wrenchseat g in the lid and -a wrench, a. This latter is composed of a rectangular head, h', :and a handle, h2, of curved form, fastened upon its `outside at one end. The exterior of the head,

h is of a size to lit snugly in the sunken seat n of the lid, while its interior dimensions are such as to receive the Wrench-seat of the operating-rod D, so that the lid is replaced or removed and the said rod operated by one instrument.

The upper box, being snugly closed, is not liable to collect dust, gravel, ice, or snow, and the seat in the lid, being sunken below its level, cannot trip up passers-by. the operating-rod being a permanent part of the device, and extending through the surface-guard, the attendant is spared the fatigue of carrying the long-stemmed iron implement now in common use for letting'on and cutting off water or gas.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The cut-oft' mechanism for gas and water, consisting of the feed-pipe A, having cock O, provided with wrench-seat a, the cap l), having an upwardly-extended stem, c, the box B inclosing the same, the surface-box G, having a removable lid, J, the tube T, connecting said boxes, said stem c provided with socket d, fitting loosely in said tube, the removable operating-rod D in said tube, engaging the socket, and its wrench-seat e and index f, all combined and operating as described.

In testimony that we claim the above we have hereunto' subscribed our names in the presence of two witnesses.

ELI H. HUMMER. JOSEPH S. GEMMILL.

Moreover, 

